The announcement came as a surprise to many observers here. Political activists were not expecting a
revision
of state emergency laws that have been
in effect
since 1963. Soon after the press conference, some political activists who were arrested in recent days were released. The president's adviser
confess
ed that mistakes were made in Deraa, but said they weren't the responsibility of the leadership. She denied reports that security forces attacked protesters in the city.
The United Nations human rights committee says it believes hundreds of people have disappeared in Libya over the past few months in what may
amount to
crimes against humanity. The committee said it had received
credible
reports of demonstrators and army members who refused to fire on crowds being detained. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.
In the last two to three months, the committee says the number of reported disappearances has increased enormously and now stands in the hundreds.
In most cases, the fate of the disappeared, many of whom were reportedly opponents of the Libyan government or members of the armed forces who refused to fire on protesters, remains unknown.
But the UN fears they may have been tortured or even executed.
Libyan state television meanwhile has been showing footage of what it says are funerals of those killed in coalition air raids.
The former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has been charged with abuse of power over the murder of the investigative journalist Georgiy Gongadze. The journalist's headless body was found 11 years ago in a forest outside Kiev. Mr Kuchma denies involvement.